Episode Summary Re-cap

What is really necessary to age healthfully? Is it true that everything falls apart at the age of 40? Are weight gain and fatigue inevitable? What about memory issues, high cholesterol and heart problems? On today’s show, “The Naughty Nutritionist,” Dr. Kaayla Daniel, joins Heather to discuss the myths and truths about aging. We’ll cover what to eat, what to avoid, natural remedies, lifestyle solutions, and more to keep you feeling your best no matter what your age!

Special Guest: Kaayla Daniel

Kaayla T. Daniel, PhD is known as The Naughty Nutritionist® because she “tells the truth that’s too hot to handle.”

Kaayla is co-author of the bestselling book Nourishing Broth: An Old-Fashioned Remedy for the Modern World (2014) and the author of The Whole Soy Story:The Dark Side of America’s Favorite Health Food (2005).

She received the Integrity in Science Award from the Weston A. Price Foundation in 2005, the Health Freedom Fighter Award from Freedom Law School in 2009 and the BadAss Award from the Paleo-Primal-Price Foundation (now the Hunt Gather Grow Foundation) in 2015.

Kaayla has been a guest on The Dr. Oz Show, PBS Healing Quest, NPR’s People’s Pharmacy, ABC’s View from the Bay, and Discovery Channel’s Medical Hotseat, and has appeared with Dr. Mark Hyman, JJ Virgin, Gary Taubes, Charles Poliquin, Dr. Joseph Mercola, Joel Salatin, David Wolfe and other prominent health experts. She has spoken at numerous conferences, including Ancestral Health, Paleo f(x), BoulderFest, Wise Traditions, National Association of Nutritional Professionals (NANP), Nutritional Therapy Association (NTA) and Bio-Signature. She is Co-president of the new Hunt Gather Grow Foundation, which has the mission of “bringing the real food communities together.

5 Myths and Truths About Aging

For eons, our ancestors have looked for the fountain of youth, longevity secrets, and rejuvenation strategies.

In 2016, the United States Census Bureau put out a report on Worldwide Aging and stated that the world population is aging rapidly as fertility rates fall and longevity increases. It’s estimated that by 2050, the global population of people aged 65 and over will triple to 1.5 billion.

The question on everyone’s mind is, how can we age healthfully? Are we doomed to live out negative mindsets, like “everything falls apart at the age of 40?” Does menopause have to be a terrible experience? Are weight gain, fatigue, depression, and memory issues inevitable? What about high cholesterol and heart problems? On today’s show, “The Naughty Nutritionist,” Dr. Kaayla Daniel, joins me to discuss the myths and truths about aging. We’ll cover what to eat, what to avoid, natural remedies, lifestyle solutions, and more to keep you feeling your best no matter what your age. And let’s face it – it’s time to embrace and honor the process of aging, so we’ll get a chance to do just that today!

Myth #1 – Food Doesn’t Matter

Has your doctor told you this? It’s mind-boggling that doctors are still spreading this myth today. The truth is that your body runs on the nutrients you take into your body. Protein, enzymes, vitamins, and minerals support your genes in performing their best, so that you can express optimal health. If you eat a poor diet (e.g., full of fast food and processed food or lacking in a wide array of whole foods), you are likely experiencing nutrient deficiencies that can result in fatigue, cravings, weight gain, joint pain and other symptoms of “aging.”

On top of this, Dr. Kaayla shared the importance of how you digest, absorb, and eliminate when it comes to staying healthy and aging well. These days, a growing number of people experience digestive issues, like food allergies, IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome), indigestion, candida, SIBO (Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth), constipation, diarrhea, gallbladder issues, and more. If you have digestive issues, then healing your gut is incredibly important. Using healing foods, like bone broth, are important for helping your gut heal.

Myth #2 – Healthy Food Doesn’t Taste Good

This myth is widespread and mostly comes from the early days of “healthy food.” It also stems from deprivation diets, like the “fat free” diet. If you are moving away from processed food, fast food, a high carb diet, and sugar, it may be challenging at first. Your taste buds are trained by what you’ve been eating, so you may experience cravings for one or two weeks. During this time, however, your tastes buds can also be retrained!

Kaayla finds that she has some clients who like to quit processed foods, sugar, and carbs slowly, weaning off of them. Other clients do much better if they quit cold turkey. Which type are you? When I began changing my diet, I had to stop cold turkey because sugar (and all refined sweeteners) and carbs were like heroin to me. I’d eat one cookie and feel like I had to eat the entire box.

Myth #3 – Meat is Bad for You

Many of the studies done on meat included factory farmed animals eating a diet that was not their native diet. This causes ill health for the animal. Hormones and antibiotics are used as well. Animals in factory farms are simply not healthy and therefore, eating meat from these animals is not healthy either.

Kaayla emphasized that eating animal protein that is organic and grass or pasture fed is key. On top of this, if you eat too much muscle meat (like chicken breast or filet mignon), you’re getting the least nutritious of the animal. The most nutritious meats are organ meats and the jiggly parts of the animal, even the skin. Organ meats are rich in all the minerals we need, including copper, zinc and iron, along with B vitamins, and vitamin C.

Animal protein is also the only source of collagen, vitamin B12, retinol (vitamin A), and ceruloplasmin (the protein transporter that carries iron and copper safely through the body). These important nutrients are often needed to bring the body back into balance during illness or an autoimmune condition.

Myth #4 – Soy is a Good Food, Especially for Menopause

The truth is that the studies on soy show that any evidence of it helping in menopause is contradictory. What is clear from the studies, is that soy contributes to symptoms like digestive distress, PMS, infertility, ADD, and immune system breakdown.

Another big concern about soy is that since it’s so often used in vegetarian and vegan diets, they are a high risk group for thyroid issues. The overuse of soy has been found to contribute to thyroid issues.

Women in perimenopause and menopause are exposed to many xenoestrogens. Xenoestrogens are estrogen-mimickers from sources like water, plastics, makeup and skincare products, food additives (e.g., dyes and preservatives), and insecticides. These hormone mimickers disrupt the endocrine system and accumulate in fat cells. To learn more, read Kaayla’s book, The Whole Soy Story: The Dark Side of America’s Favorite Health Food.

We hear this story quite a bit, especially because the drug companies have big advertising budgets and there’s money to be made when people are sick. For this reason, we often only see research studies about these health issues being inevitable with age as well.

Kaayla referenced research about our ancestors on traditional, real food diets, that showed they had beautiful, healthy bones and teeth, along with other evidence of good health.

The truth is that all disease has a root cause of inflammation and our ancestors had a diet and lifestyle that was more naturally anti-inflammatory. First of all, our ancestors and indigenous populations around the world ate from the land and when they ate animal protein, they ate nose-to-tail (the whole animal). This means their diet was higher in organ meats, the jiggly parts of the animal, and animal fats, along with their vegetables. Their foods were real and slow-cooked. Bone broth is a good example because after eating the whole animal, they had bones and bits left, which were put into a stockpot to be slow simmered for up to two days.

Now, here’s the thing: all people experience a dramatic decrease in collagen – the most abundant protein in your body that holds it up and together – by the age of 40. Since collagen is only found in animal protein, and is most bioavailable in bone broth, it’s not surprising that we would experience symptoms of osteoporosis, and issues with hair, skin, nails, digestive organs, muscles, the heart, eyes, blood, fat, and lymph at a higher rate than our ancestors, who ate bone broth regularly.

Bone broth has been consumed well before the first crude pots were made. Animal organs and turtle shells were used for cooking the broth. Studies show bone broth is immune-boosting, anti-inflammatory, helps with weight loss, circulation, and lymph flow. It also helps with healing and sealing the gut, which supports brain health. All of this is good news for supporting healthy aging.

We had great callers on this show and the theme of minerals came up. Minerals are your body’s spark plugs and support energy, help you handle stress, and are involved in every enzymatic function in your body. Minerals, particularly copper, are incredibly important for your hormone balance as well.

Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) often comes up when women are facing various health issues and menopause. It’s important to get your minerals tested before considering HRT, even with bioidentical hormones! There are a couple of reasons for this. One is that some women have a genetic predisposition to not handling estrogen well (e.g., the COMT gene). If this gene switch is expressing symptoms or “switched on,” any addition of estrogen (even bioidentical) could be problematic and contribute to breast cancer or other estrogen-related cancers.

The second reason is that since copper manages your hormones, it’s easier and often more supportive of healing to work below the hormone level. Getting an HTMA (Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis) can tell you where your mineral levels are and it might be a good idea to work at that level to see if you can resolve your hormone balance before messing with things at the hormone level. Dr. Kaayla does HTMA testing, so contact her to get testing and consultation.

Here’s my favorite remedy for balancing your minerals. This is a wide-base of liquid minerals with a good dose of magnesium, your chief mineral for energy. Add 1 dropperful per day across all of your glasses of water for the day (say 2-5 drops per glass). Then notice how you feel. Most people report more energy, less stress, and better sleep. Over time, these minerals help support your body’s important energy production and can help resolve digestive issues and hormone challenges.

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Tune in Next Week

Tune in next week to 21st Century Medicine Woman. Are you confused by all the different options for healing, nutrition, medications, diets, or supplements you have to wade through? In next week’s engaging show, Heather will talk about how she awakened to a process of being led to the holistic health solutions that could help her heal.

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As a coach, writer and recovered former executive, I understand the challenges of creating a balanced, healthy lifestyle when over-scheduled. In my journey to radiant health, I created a whole health system of eating, exercise, renewal and recharging -- a roadmap toward health & vitality. I empower clients to create their own whole health systems, in their own unique ways. I have seen amazing results in working with my clients!